AP exposes criminal misconduct by ICE employees amid massive hiring surge

By Ryan Foley

Shortly after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that it had more than doubled in size to 22,000 officers in less than a year, Iowa reporter Ryan Foley set out to document how many of its employees had been charged or convicted of crimes.

He identified more than two dozen cases of criminal conduct by ICE employees over five years. The cases included an officer who physically assaulted his girlfriend for years, another who admitted repeatedly sexually abusing a woman in his custody and a third charged with taking bribes to remove detention orders on people targeted for deportation.

In his reporting, Foley noted calls by Trump administration officials to grant ICE officers “absolute immunity,” several detainee deaths and the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis. One judge recently warned of a culture of lawlessness at the agency, whose one-time infusion of $75 billion fueled unprecedented growth.

The story drew historical parallels to the Border Patrol’s unchecked growth and the problems it wrought. It included video of Foley discussing his findings on camera, as well as body camera footage of arrests of ICE officers obtained through public records requests. Screenshots from that footage were published as photos.

Judges praised Foley’s meticulous review of body camera footage to identify the most compelling clips, as well as Dallas-based video journalist Kendria LaFleur’s carefully produced edit.

For his strong investigative and compelling reporting, Foley earns this week’s Best of AP — Second Winner.